In a midst of big cleaning companies, a family-owned cleaning company Kota offers a little bit of extra for their customers whether it be businesses or private customers.
Founded in 2009, Kota has over 50 employees and operates around the Turku area. Their work is guided by values - collaboration, ecological approach to cleaning and the joy of work, as well as their ambition to grow into the best cleaning company in the area.
The journey of our interviewee Anna Kotamäki at Kota actually started when she was still working at Lyyti. Anna was the first official employee at Lyyti doing everything from marketing to customer support and events. One happy day, Kota’s founder Petteri Kotamäki walked into the office of Lyyti to sell his company’s cleaning services.
Anna perhaps didn’t know it at the time, but she was to marry Petteri and join Kota as the CEO, making it a true family business. Anna joined the firm in 2013 and has led the company through ups and downs.
Building the foundation
When Anna was still working at Lyyti she got a crash course in event management as well as running a business, so one could say she was well-equipped when she stepped into the role of CEO at Kota.
Anna has embraced events at Kota, too. When Anna joined the company, both internal and external events became an integral part of the business strategy.
“It was really thanks to Lyyti that I felt confident about giving events such a strategic role. With a tool that is easy to use and is as versatile as Lyyti is, creating events didn’t feel like a burden but instead the events brought value for our employees and customers.”
Anna Kotamäki, Kota
Today, events are much more than a Christmas party at Kota. The team organises about 10 events per year, including the Kota Festival. In addition, Kota actively partners up with other businesses at different events. “Most of our events are internal. The staff at Kota are trained regularly and these sessions are treated as events. We also want to organise events that support the social growth of our employees. The Kota Festival is a great example of this,” says Anna.
She adds, “Kota’s events are all organised to build relationships and support connections. It’s of course important to increase the knowledge of the employees, but nurturing the trust and the bond we have with each other is fundamental.”
The silver lining of the pandemic
The Covid-19 pandemic hit Kota hard like it did so many other businesses. Because everything shut down, no one needed their office or their home cleaned. As dire as it may have looked, the situation still presented an opportunity.
Having organised a lot of events before, the team at Kota decided to keep their internal trainings going as online events and turn their training material into video format.
What happened as a result surprised them all. Something that was considered distant and hard to connect over turned out to be cost efficient for the company and better for the employee from the point of view of their time management. “Employees were able to complete trainings when it suited their schedule the best. We invite employees to take part in trainings via Lyyti and we can see when they have completed a topic,” explains Anna.
She adds, “People are so used to virtual events now that we are happy to keep those going and add face-to-face meetings where necessary. We want to develop the company but it can’t happen at the expense of the employee. We are happy that the video materials have been received well, as it also makes running the business more efficient.”
“Events, even if they were virtual ones, and work in general, kept many people from succumbing to the misery of the pandemic. For us, there’s nothing that tops face-to-face encounters but we were happy to have been able to connect with everyone during the tough periods and keep supporting each other,” remembers Anna.
Kota x Lyyti
When Anna Kotamäki started at Kota, she knew Lyyti would be a great partner for them.
“Where don’t we use Lyyti? The platform is in use every day for various different tasks.”
Anna Kotamäki, Kota
Kota has embraced Lyyti like no other customer. The usage list is long like a marathon:
- Gift card sales
- Ordering extra services for customers
- Internal events like Kota Festival
- Cleaning supply inventory for corporate customers
- Recruitment and communication with applicants
- Employee engagement and communications
- Customer and employee surveys
- Online training attendance management
- Onboarding of new employees
- Quick campaign pages for customers
- Customer communications
- Downloadable materials
- Uniform management
- Voting
“Lyyti is a tool that can be used for many things but I especially appreciate the communication feature. With good communication, we can increase inclusivity and equality in our multinational company and support the bond that we have with our employees,” explains Anna.
Customers and employees alike appreciate the active communication that Kota does. This activity emphasises the importance of having the right tools in use. “I really see Lyyti as a communication tool rather than an event tool,” adds Anna.
Future of Kota
Kota wants to develop their business and in order to do that, they rely on data. “For a cleaning company, we have a lot of different software in use and we always want to make changes and improvements based on what we actually know,” explains Anna.
She adds, “I’m such a fan of Lyyti’s Experience Value Score, which we use to collect feedback and analyse our events and service as a whole. We can gather feedback from our customers and employees effortlessly and use it to develop our business even further.”
“All the little things we can do to improve our service are always in my mind. Events included,” laughs Anna.
“I would definitely recommend Lyyti for anyone! If Lyyti is not familiar to you, I encourage you to challenge yourself and think of all the ways you can improve your business with Lyyti,”
Anna Kotamäki, Kota
If you would like to discover Lyyti, watch a demo or contact sales directly.
